Category Archives: Space Systems

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Oct.27.2019

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Lightweight 3D printed composite CubeSat structure built by French university students with industrial partners:

LISA, an Italian-based company specialist for over 25 years in the use and development of advanced additive manufacturing technologies and materials, has collaborated with the Laboratoire InterUniversitaire des Système Atmosphérique (LISA) of Universite Paris-est Creteil (UPEC) on the construction of a nano-satellite that is a 3U CubeSat formfactor.

The project was carried by students under CNES and Space Campus University supervision. The goal was to develop a demonstrator that can be flight-ready in Low Earth Orbit. The engineering team at LISA and CNES decided to rely on CRP Technology and its Windform Top-Line family of high-performance materials for the manufacturing of the nano-satellite.

Lisa 3d printed CubeSat

Another CubeSat project at CRP is described in Construction of a CubeSat using Additive Manufacturing – CRP-USA

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-300 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • AMSAT Goal: “Amateur Radio in Every CubeSat”
  • AMSAT VP User Services Describes Planning for Improvements
  • AMSAT-DL Symposium and JHV 2019 November 9 – November 10
  • Reminder – ARISS Proposal Window is Open Until November 30, 2019
  • ARISS Activities & Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
  • Software Update for UZ7HO’s Software Packet-Radio TNC
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • The AMSAT Hamfests & Conventions Web Page Updates
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Introduction to CubeSat Technology and Subsystem:
Orbit Design, Debris Impact, and Orbital Decay Prediction

Videos: “Space to ground” ISS report – Oct.25.2019

Here is the latest episode of NASA’s weekly Space to Ground report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir reflect on the first All Woman Spacewalk [Short version]

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir reflect on the historic spacewalk they performed on Oct. 18 – the first ever to be conducted by two women. They spent a total of 7 hours and 17 minutes in the vacuum of space. It was Koch’s fourth spacewalk and Meir’s first.

**Expedition 61 Crew News Conference with Jessica Meir and Christina Koch – October 21, 2019 [Complete version]

** Expedition 61 In Flight Event with the SMPTE Conference – October 24,2 019

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Christina Koch, Jessica Meir and Drew Morgan of NASA discussed the value of capturing imagery of human spaceflight from orbit and the future use of video and digital still cameras for deep space exploration during a question and answer session Oct. 24 with participants at a broadcast industry conference in Los Angeles. The three NASA astronauts are in various stages of long duration missions on the orbital laboratory.

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Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Oct.19.2019

This week’s episode of NASA’s Space to Ground weekly reports on activities related to the International Space Station:

** First All-Woman Spacewalk

On Oct 18, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch performed the first all-woman spacewalk. Koch & Meir replaced a faulty battery charge/discharge unit that failed to activate after a previous spacewalk. This was the fourth spacewalk for Christina Koch and the first for Jessica Meir.

** Scientific Investigations Set for Space on Northrop Grumman CRS-12: Radiation Protection, Rover Control, and More Headed to Space Station | NASA

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft scheduled to liftoff in early November will carry supplies and scientific experiments to the International Space Station. The investigations making the trip range from research into human control of robotics in space to reprocessing materials for 3D printing.

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Oct.13.2019

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** High school students learn spacecraft engineering in the Irvine Cubesat program in Irvine, California: IPSF CubeSat Program | Beckman Foundation

The Irvine CubeSat Program is composed of six public high schools from the Tustin and Irvine School Districts. All schools are given specific roles and functions for each CubeSat Mission, to include Avionics, Communication, Propulsion, Power, BioTech, and Prime Contractor.

Mimicking a real-world engineering firm approach to large, complex projects, each team is responsible for communicating their plans and achievements to the rest of the group to ensure that the overall mission is successful.

Irvine01 and Irvine02 Cubesats
Cubesats Irvine01 (left), launched by Rocket Labin November 2018. and Irvine02 (right), launched by SpaceX in December of 2018, were both built by high school students. Credits: Irvine CubeSat

** Polish universities to build CubeSat for Mars mission launched by Virgin Orbit:  SatRevolution, Virgin Orbit and Polish Universities Establish Mars Consortium | Virgin Orbit

Scientists and engineers from nearly a dozen Polish universities have teamed up with Poland-based satellite company SatRevolution and Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company Virgin Orbit to establish a new consortium to design and carry out the world’s first dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars. The parties established the consortium at a formal signing ceremony during the Impact Mobility’19 rEVolution conference in Katowice, Poland.

The consortium will jointly develop the first in a series of up to three Mars missions, with the initial launch expected as early as three years from now.

At the core of the consortium are many of the top technical universities in Poland. AGH University of Science and Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poznań University of Technology, Gdańsk University of Technology Lódz University of Technology, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, and Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences have each signed on to take part in the collaborative program. Leadership from these universities see the consortium and the missions it will conduct as an unprecedented opportunity for growth and development across many technical disciplines, in addition to creating opportunities for commercialization.

** Rocket Lab Electron rocket to launch seven PocketQubes, including a university project, in 2019 in a cluster deployment system built by Alba Orbital.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-286 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • 2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting
  • 2019 37th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Schedule
  • September/October 2019 Apogee View
  • W3ZM – 50 States in Our 50th Year
  • ITU Magazine Reports on IARU Agenda Items for WRC-19
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Introduction to CubeSat Technology and Subsystem:
Orbit Design, Debris Impact, and Orbital Decay Prediction

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Oct.11.2019

This week’s episode of NASA’s Space to Ground reports on activities related to the International Space Station:

** NASA Astronauts Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station on Oct. 6, 2019

** Living and Working: Valuable Spaceflight Data Collaboration Tool

The International Space Station is the largest human-made structure in low Earth orbit (LEO) and serves as a space environment research laboratory where astronauts perform experiments in several unique fields including physics, astronomy, and biology. NASA’s Genelab collects valuable spaceflight experiment data for researchers and scientists to learn from this unique environment. GeneLab is an interactive, open-access resource where scientists can upload, download, store, search, share, transfer, and analyze omics data from spaceflight and corresponding analogue experiments. The biological studies conducted on the International Space Station generate critical data that scientists use to determine how terrestrial biology changes as a result of spaceflight.

** Meet Former NASA Astronaut Kathy Sullivan: the First American Woman to Walk in Space

35 years ago, on October 11, 1984, NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space. We video chatted with Kathy to ask her about this historic feat as well as her thoughts on the upcoming all-female spacewalk scheduled to take place October 21, 2019, with NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir.

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Come Fly with Us: NASA’s Payload Specialist Program
(Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight)